Nokia Is Back! Announces New Android Powered Nokia N1 Android Tablet

Here is some fresh news for all you Nokia fans out there. After the sale of its devices business to Microsoft earlier this year, Nokia has made a surprising comeback to the devices business with a brand new tablet. While indications of this were evident when they announced the innovative Z Launcher, Nokia did grab everyone by surprise when they announced the new N1 tablet at the Slush 2014 conference at Finland earlier today.

With the Microsoft lineage (and Stephen Elop) gone, Nokia is now free to explore the opportunities that a switch to the Android platform would offer them Sadly though, it would be some time before we would see a phone launch, an “authentic” Nokia phone from the Finnish brand because of the restrictions placed on them following the deal with Microsoft. Nokia however is free to launch tablets of their own and that is exactly what they did today.

Let us now quickly checkout what the Nokia N1 is all about. Before that, check out this video from Nokia.

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The Hardware

The Nokia N1 is powered by an Intel Atom 64-bit Processor (Z3580) running at 2.3 GHz. There is ample RAM (2 GB) and 32 GB of storage space. The Nokia N1 gets a 5300 mAH battery as well as high quality Wolfson speakers. For those desperate to look weird by clicking photos using their tablets, there is an 8 megapixel camera at the rear to satiate your photographic fantasies. For all you selfie freaks, the 5 megapixel front camera should keep you busy. The main camera can also capture 1080p videos.The battery by the way is rated for up to 9 hours of “normal” usage. The graphics department is handled by the PowerVR G6430 chip that trundles along at 533 MHz.

The Design

While we were happy to see a new device sporting the Nokia brand, for a company that has churned out some great looking devices, the N1 looks a bit underwhelming. This is primarily because of the fact that it looks like an Apple iPad clone at first glance. We are not however complaining about the one-piece, all aluminium body that features a 7.9-inch display with a resolution of 2048×1536 pixels.. At just 6.9 mm, it is even thinner than the Apple iPad Mini 3 by some margin. At 319 grams, it is fairly light as well.

The Software

Gone are the Nokia X days when we would only get a highly restricted, half-baked “Android” experience on a device with the Nokia name plate. The Nokia N1 runs Android 5.0 Lollipop – the latest and the greatest version of Android ever. Nokia has of course customized it with its Z Launcher. But for most part, it is going to be a stock Android experience all through – and we are not complaining.

Connectivity

On the connectivity front, the Nokia N1 has pretty much covered it all. The device features a micro-USB 2.0 with a Type-C reversible connector, a 3.5 mm audio jack, Wi-Fi, (802.11a/b/g/n/ac); dual channel (2.4GHz & 5GHz) with MIMO, Bluetooth and not to mention, BT 4.0. NFC seems too be conspicuous with its absence.

When and where to buy

The N1 is planned to be available for purchase in China in Q1 2015 for an estimated USD 249 before taxes, with the anticipation of expanding sales to other markets. There is no indication of a launch in the United States though!